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TechRadar
Kara Phillips

The Escape From Tarkov Arena Beta is live, and here's how you can play

Escape from Tarkov Arena screenshot - airplane hangar.

The Beta for Escape From Tarkov Arena is now available to download, but only players who have been selected in the first wave of invites will be able to. If you missed it this time, there will be another opportunity soon, so fret not. 

But, for those who have been approved, you will need to sign into the BattleState Games launcher (or start by downloading it - if you haven't already) with your account linked to the email that has received the invite, and you should see an Escape From Tarkov Arena section on the side menu. 

From here, you will need to select the game title as if you were to open it, which will allow you to trigger the download process. Once downloaded, you'll be able to open the Arena Beta from this section in the side menu.

If you're still waiting, more invites are expected to roll out as any bugs or issues flagged by the first wave of players are ironed out, but it's hard to say when as Battlestate Games hasn't confirmed how many players are being invited at a time. With that said, it's worth keeping an eye on your inbox over the coming weeks just in case an invite gets sent out without warning.  

As we stated in our Escape From Tarkov Arena preview, "Arena captures the terror of a close-range Escape From Tarkov firefight and makes an entire game out of it." So, if you're looking to get a little more high-risk high-reward action compared to the base game, then it's worth checking out the Arena beta if and when you can. Especially for those who own Escape From Tarkov Edge of Darkness and can get hold of Arena for free.  Otherwise, you'll have to bite the bullet and cough up some extra bucks for the privilege. 

We've got a guide to the best FPS games if you're looking for an alternative shooter to jump into. However, if you just want something a little more communal, you might want to check out our guide to the best co-op games or the best multiplayer PC games, too. 

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